Tidal Evolution of the Moon 1: Laplace plane transition

Animation of relative orientations of Earth’s spin and the Moon’s orbit during the Laplace plane transition. The system is seen from the direction of Earth’s vernal equinox, the blue arrow is plotted along Earth’s spin axis and points to the north, while the lunar orbit is plotted in red. Initially the Earth has a high obliquity, the Moon has low inclination and the Laplace plane is close to Earth’s equator. As the animation progresses and the lunar orbit grows due to tidal dissipation, the Laplace plane sh